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This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Every Week on the Nintendo Channel
Last week, we were surprised to see that the new demo offerings for the Nintendo Channel were exactly the same as those the previous week -- most of which were repeats to start with. This week, it's two of the same demos, plus one that is a rerun from previous weeks. And this is how we've managed to feel surprised and bored at the same time.At least there are videos about Cursed Mountain and Night Game to watch. The full list of videos and demos is available after the break.
Joystiq Review: Trackmania DS
Trackmania DS is a game that wants to be friends with everyone. It's an arcade racer, but one that tries to cater to the wider audience of the DS through the implementation of other genres, like a Puzzle mode and even rally racing. The problem with trying to include all of these things is that the core component suffers, and in this case, the racing could have used a little more TLC.%Gallery-37398%
This Week on the Nintendo Channel: Jazz
This week, the Nintendo Channel has plenty of videos and, much to our surprise, some new DS demos as well. Avalon Code is back, and it brought its friend Trackmania DS along for the ride. Then there's the lovely Nintendo fluff for Wii Music that you can see in the video above. Want the full list? Click past the break and you can have it for the low, low price of free.%Gallery-27713%
DS Daily: What's left to master?
Atlus delighted us yesterday by confirming it will release TrackMania DS in North America next March. Some of us around these parts like a good racing game, and that's something the DS has sorely lacked since its launch (Mario Kart DS being the exception).Like every platform, the little handheld excels at certain genres -- we're practically suffocating in brilliant RPGs (of both the "A" and "S" variety), text adventures owe their entire comeback to the DS, and great puzzle games are ten-a-penny on the system -- but what genres does the DS struggle with? Are there any types of game it will never master?%Gallery-37398%
TrackMania DS dated for North America, published by ... Atlus?
Lucky old Europe got TrackMania DS last week, but North America will have to wait for its version, which has just been announced for March 17th. As if North America waiting four months longer than Europe for a game wasn't already bizarre enough, you should hear who's publishing it: Atlus. Yeah, the same Atlus that is far more closely associated with dungeon crawlers and RPGs.Whoever wants to localize it, we'll be welcoming the twisty brilliance of TrackMania DS with a great big hug. Not only does it contain over 100 tracks and an insanely great track editor (check after the break for a video of this at work), but almost all of the early reviews are glowing. Could it be? A racing game on Nintendo's portable that actually works and isn't Mario Kart DS?%Gallery-37398%
See first gameplay video from Trackmania DS
We gave the last Trackmania DS trailer a hard time for its ... well, its complete lack of gameplay footage, not to put too fine a point on it. Now, we have some actual footage of the game and we don't know what all the secrecy was about: It looks great to the TM fans in our digi-office.We still have some concerns, chiefly that the game will be decidedly less free than its PC counterpart. But with the promised track editing and sharing features, it still sounds like it could be a worthy purchase when it's released later this year.
Today's least representative video: TrackMania DS trailer
We love the idea of the bullshot. Since the term was first coined by Penny Arcade, we've been seeing the phenomenon absolutely everywhere. Well, tonight we're here to tell you something potentially obvious but nonetheless important -- the bullshot phenomenon doesn't apply exclusively to screenshots. It can be applied to videos as well.Case in point, the new "debut" trailer for TrackMania DS. Sure, the trailer doesn't exactly purport to be a direct feed video from the DS screen. But between the super-shiny, high-resolution cars racing out of the DS' GBA slot and the disembodied stylus creating a dynamically winding track, the line between marketing and outright lying is a little too fune for our tastes. Now we just wish we had a term for this specific phenomenon. Vide-lie? Fabrica-trailer? Prevarica-deo? We're stumped.
